Watch: Rafael Nadal fine-tunes his game during practice session with Grigor Dimitrov ahead of Washington debut
World No. 3 Rafael Nadal is currently ramping up his preparations for his Citi Open debut this week. In a recent video posted by the ATP, Nadal was seen trading hits with his good friend Grigor Dimitrov in front of a healthy crowd in Washington.
Nadal and Dimitrov enthralled the crowd at the William H.G. Fitzgerald Tennis Center with some intense rallies from the baseline and sublime shot-making.
In the video, which is nearly 10 minutes long, the two can be seen playing a practice tiebreaker. The Bulgarian struggled to find his rhythm initially, leaking a few unforced errors.
However, he soon had the crowd gasping in awe as he unleashed an inside-in forehand to get Nadal on the move before finishing the point with a deft volley.
Rafael Nadal looks in prime condition as he prepares to launch Citi Open campaign
Rafael Nadal, on his part, showed no signs of the foot injury he appeared to have picked up in the closing stages of his defeat to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals at Roland Garros. The Spaniard recently disclosed that the physical setback had prompted him to pull out of Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics.
“I had some problems after Roland Garros, for which I could not play a couple of significant tournaments for me, such as Wimbledon and the Olympics,” Nadal said.
“I had some issues with my foot and had to stop playing for 20 days (after Roland Garros). Then I started practicing, first for half an hour, and then a bit more. I went through the whole process,” Nadal added.
In the video posted by the ATP, Nadal can be seen hitting plenty of big serves, which bodes well for his campaign in the American capital.
The Spaniard's best play came at the 6:51 mark. Nadal began the point with an accurate T-serve before moving Dimitrov from side to side with heavy groundstrokes. Nadal then applies the finishing touches with a perfect drop volley. The two played a few more points, but did not produce anything extraordinary.
Nadal, who will be defending a ton of points at the Toronto Masters and the US Open this month, arrived in Washington earlier this week to get used to the playing conditions.
The Spaniard is the firm favorite to win the ATP 500 event, but could face resistance from the likes of Jannik Sinner, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Dimitrov himself.
Nadal opens his campaign against Jack Sock.